Astana blog

29 October, 2009 | 11:10

Kazakhstan might not be the most well-known destination on the tennis calendar, but it'll be Jamie and Jonny Marray's focal point next week.

The pair are a day away from their departure to the Astana challenger, at $125K, the biggest 'challie' on the schedule next week. Just a shame it's so far away.

Jamie's never been there before, but with the Borat movie the popular Kazakh reference for most players, jokes about goat curry have been doing the rounds all week.

Whatever the case, Jamie and Jonny Marray (aka Mazzadonna thanks to his football skills) have been getting plenty of practice under their belt at the NTC.

An early tournament departure meant Rosco Hutchins has been in the building, giving them the option of playing some proper 'two on two' drills. 

Mazzadonna is a bit of a serve-volleyer....

And he's got a decent smash on him too: Rosco and Jamie panic, but the anticipated smash turns out to be a deft lob.

A sheepish Jonny Maz builds some bridges with Jamie a few minutes later after rifling an overhead into the Murray body...

The Murray knee to be specific. Nice little red mark coming up there. Ouch.

The arrival of Jonny Marray into the fold has been good news for the five-a-side football sessions. Most of the players would put him in their top one or two players, and picking him often guarantees a win.

Alex Corretja - in town working with Andy - was more of a unknown quantity, and got a grilling on his potential before kick-off.

Once the teams have been selected, speaking to the other side is verging on treason.

Sadly for Jamie and coach Ally Mac, they went down heavily in the last match against a side that included Mazzadonna and super 'keeper Matt Little.

They'll have one more chance to redeem themselves prior to Astana. Make sure you follow him on twitter to find out how he gets on.